DETROIT PISTONS question

[cranrab]

this season, the pistons have compiled the league's best win loss record (so far)...

of course, the pistons have the proven personnel to post a good record, but is the MAIN reason for this year's exceptional regular season success the FACT that they have had ALL their starters HEALTHY for EVERY game?

i would argue YES, because they are the ONLY winning team to have 5 starters play EVERY game...

none of the other so-called 'elite' squads can make that claim: phoenix suns, san antonio spurs, dallas mavericks, miami heat.

 

[xfactor]

of course, the pistons have the proven personnel to post a good record, but is the MAIN reason for this year's exceptional regular season success the FACT that they have had ALL their starters HEALTHY for EVERY game?

I would say no for the following reasons:

1) Point guard is the most important position on the court in my opinion and Chauncey Billups is one of the top 3 PGs in the NBA right now. He is doing a great job of leading his team night in and night out. Not to mention he is the best clutch player in the NBA and simply doesnt miss from the FT line.

2) Everyone in the starting lineup attempts (and most of the time excels) at playing D. With more than enough players only concerned with getting their points on O, its nice to see a team that gives 100% on both ends of the court.

3) The Pistons also average 99 PPG and only give up 90. They also average a league low 10 TOs per game and are second in the league with 24 APG.

I wish more teams would follow the team based philosophy of the Pistons.


The question I have surrounding the team is Flip Saunders. If he wins the title this year, it obviously proves he is a more than capable coach (Although I thought he was overrated because of his failures in Minnesota). But if he does win it, just goes to show you how overrated KG really is or how prep to pro's players will never get the job done in the playoffs.

 

[Makkonnen]

its hard for any team to be successful without healthy starters and that goes for any sport

The main reason in my opinion is Flip Saunders and Chauncey Billups. Flip, from what I have heard the past 5 years, is a DL superstar with a playbook and is supposedly held in high regard by most of the league's front offices and coaches. The way they dismanteld San Antonio twice this season was beautiful.
Chauncey has stepped up his game after last year's loss. He now makes them unbeatable for the most part- because now one of their dominant players has stepped up to take control and lead
Rasheed has the talent to do it too but he just isnt a leader , he is a hardcore team guy and cant be selfish enough when necessary. In last year's finals Sheed could have dropped 40 but kept passin, Timmy couldnt hold him but he couldnt be selfish enough and they lost off that shit. Chauncey didnt try to take over until too late in that series.
Chauncey's crazy firepower and skill, plus having him at the point plus him not losing his fuckin mind Toby style (Jack Jackson) seems to have put detroit into orbit and I cant see anyone fuckin with them right about now

Detroit has the best starting 5 in the NBA and now their offense is matching up with their defense.

Xfactor- Flip had a really dysfunctional family over there in Minnesota. Wally actin a fool stealin the fuckin ball from teammates dduring games cuz he's such a fuckin chucker, hudson's injuries, then the cassell sprewell bullshit- KG aint over rated - Kevin Mchale is a shitty GM who hasnt built a good enough team around KG and kept hamstringin flip

 

[RunawaySlave]

I believe more than them having the same starting lineups this
year, is them having the same players held over from last year
The Pistons/Spurs biggest strengths are their cohesiveness as
a unit. The Pistons, despite the coaching change, know their roles
very well. With the exception of Ben Wallace, who went public with
his disappointment of his role in the offense, every one else seems
content, and that's because they know where they stand with each
other.....

Even McDyess and Arroyo are handling their bench roles very well.
The Pistons are building from within too. I bet in the next season,
Darko becomes a key reserve (yeah, I know he ain't shit) too. Dumars
does a good job filling the bench

But they've been lucky with injuries so far. Glad Billups is finally
getting his props. But I've seen Saunders get the Wolves off to
great starts before, only to have them fade down the stretch

 

[cranrab]

a consequence of good teamwork

check out the pistons avg shot distribution:

richard hamilton 17 FGAS
chauncey billups 13 FGAS
rasheed wallace 13 FGAS
tayshaun prince 13 FGAS



those number for the pistons go beyond the generic 'selfless' descriptions... this is just damn good teammwork...

take a look at the pacers:

jermain o'neal 18 FGAS
stephen jackson 13 FGAS
ron artest 15 FGAS
jamal tinsley 11 FGAS

with shot distribution like this, you'd think the pacers would sport a better record than 20-16, but if you look closely, you'd see that tinsley has been out, and well, everybody knows what ron artest has been up to...

combined with jermaine o'neal's recent injury, and the pacers fans must feel like they're cursed...

and quickly, a look at the heat:

dwyane wade 19 FGAs
shaquille o'neal 15 FGAs
jason williams 12 FGAs
udonis haslem 7 FGAs
james posey 6 FGAs

 

[xfactor]

Re: a consequence of good teamwork

check out the pistons avg shot distribution:

take a look at the pacers:

jermain o'neal 18 FGAS
stephen jackson 13 FGAS
ron artest 15 FGAS
jamal tinsley 11 FGAS

Those numbers must be inaccurate... There is no way that Stephen Jackson is only putting up 13 FGA/game... I demand a recount.

 

[Makkonnen]

Re: a consequence of good teamwork

Those numbers must be inaccurate... There is no way that Stephen Jackson is only putting up 13 FGA/game... I demand a recount.

every game that i have caught he hasnt stepped up his shootin - that muthafucka be disappearing a lil bit - if he was a chucker or demanded the ball more he'd be a big name
but that's jermaine's team jermaine is like a watered down kg or some shit - pau gasol without the range or some shit - overall i aint an oneal fan although he is probably the smartest straight outta high school athlete that i have seen

 

[xfactor]

Re: a consequence of good teamwork

every game that i have caught he hasnt stepped up his shootin - that muthafucka be disappearing a lil bit - if he was a chucker or demanded the ball more he'd be a big name
but that's jermaine's team jermaine is like a watered down kg or some shit - pau gasol without the range or some shit - overall i aint an oneal fan although he is probably the smartest straight outta high school athlete that i have seen

Makk,

I gotta disagree with you here... I have seen Stephen Jackson jack FGA with the best of them...Not to mention on occasions once he gets the rock, its two options for teammates 1) Get in position to rebound 2) Get back on D because of the forthcoming jacked FGA or TO from a bonehead decision.

And remember that year he dissed the Spurs (a few months after winning the title) and their 3 yr/ $10 million offer to sign with Atlanta for 2yrs/$3 million just so he could pad his stats for a year?

I agree with you on Jermaine O'Neal as he's probably one of the most intelligent of the prep to pros athletes but Im not a fan of his game at all.

 

[RunawaySlave]

ONeal is an overachiever, always has been. He
Never got a chance at Portland, in FOUR years.
Mike Dunleavy had him buried behind complete
stiffs and morons. He only got to play sporadically
In fact NO ONE believed in him except for
Isiah Thomas. If it wasn't for him, O'Neal would
probably be an 11th man somewhere.

O'Neal is the type of players every championship
team needs. So he isn't a fancy scorer. But imagine
if HE chucked up 25+ shots per game like some
others, he'd probably average 30-35 ppg himself

Even without the scoring though, I would still take
him over 95% of the big men in the league today...
Make that 98%. All dude needs is a stable squad
to play for. Rod Thorn needs to get on the horn and
make a deal for this guy because he's exactly what
we need on the Nets. A big man who PLAYS big

 

[Makkonnen]

runaway- I dont think Oneal plays that big at all. If he was on a more stable or more talented squad I think he's capable of putting up a Tim Duncan type performance if he stayed healthy. I learned to disregard that kid, every fuckin year - twisted ankles and other shit.

xfactor- ive seen him throw up shit from 3 out of nowhere and been lmbao at the shit cuz it was like some shit a lil kid do fuckin around but the last few indiana games i watched it seemed like he was biting his tongue and pinchin himself to not go on a latrell sprewell chuckin spree runnin around the court like he was on crack lol - he looks like the predator too so he's hard to watch
i know indiana is mad as fuck- their season is a wrap and they wont get shit for artest- artest is still getting paid mind you and they are the ones who floated rumors of a trade of artest - pickin on the dummy - fuck indiana - maybe they can wheel smits' corpse out on the floor and have twin towers
watch an indiana game stephen aint throwin it up every chance he gets

 

[Havoc]

Re: a consequence of good teamwork

ONeal is an overachiever, always has been. He
Never got a chance at Portland, in FOUR years.
Mike Dunleavy had him buried behind complete
stiffs and morons. He only got to play sporadically
In fact NO ONE believed in him except for
Isiah Thomas. If it wasn't for him, O'Neal would
probably be an 11th man somewhere.

O'Neal is the type of players every championship
team needs. So he isn't a fancy scorer. But imagine
if HE chucked up 25+ shots per game like some
others, he'd probably average 30-35 ppg himself

Even without the scoring though, I would still take
him over 95% of the big men in the league today...
Make that 98%. All dude needs is a stable squad
to play for. Rod Thorn needs to get on the horn and
make a deal for this guy because he's exactly what
we need on the Nets. A big man who PLAYS big

I certainly agree with the first paragraph. O'Neal didn't really get a fair chance in Portland, and since he's been with Indiana, the people in charge at Portland are probably asking "where did we go wrong?"

I disagree with the scoring part. If O'Neal wasn't scoring, then I'd have to get someone else to work even harder on the offensive end to make up for it. I'm not so sure that I would want another Ben Wallace on my team, when I could have someone with Duncan-like stats instead.

 

[xfactor]

xfactor- ive seen him throw up shit from 3 out of nowhere and been lmbao at the shit cuz it was like some shit a lil kid do fuckin around but the last few indiana games i watched it seemed like he was biting his tongue and pinchin himself to not go on a latrell sprewell chuckin spree runnin around the court like he was on crack lol - he looks like the predator too so he's hard to watch
i know indiana is mad as fuck- their season is a wrap and they wont get shit for artest- artest is still getting paid mind you and they are the ones who floated rumors of a trade of artest - pickin on the dummy - fuck indiana - maybe they can wheel smits' corpse out on the floor and have twin towers
watch an indiana game stephen aint throwin it up every chance he gets

This is what I dont understand... If the Pacers are so hellbent on getting rid of Artest, why he still on the team?

They are waiting on 'the perfect offer' for him but Bird man and the penguin (Donny Walsh) need to realize that they arent going to get it. Either stfu and trade him and charge it to the game or revoke his suspension and let him play. It makes no sense to keep him inactive if he can help the team (who seems to get hit by the injury bug every year) He isnt the first player to say he would like to be traded (Was it even a demand like Barkley did in Philly or T-Mac in Orlando) and wont be the last.

I only saw a couple of Pacer's games this season and Jackson played under control in one (@ POR) and actually carried the team in the other (@GSW on TNT) so maybe he is getting better...or smarter.

 

[RunawaySlave]

Re: a consequence of good teamwork

I disagree with the scoring part. If O'Neal wasn't scoring, then I'd have to get someone else to work even harder on the offensive end to make up for it. I'm not so sure that I would want another Ben Wallace on my team, when I could have someone with Duncan-like stats instead.

ONeal is one of the few big men who will not just let
people prance down the lane. THAT'S what I mean by
"playing big".

His points are just a bonus. He doesn't need to average
20 shots a game to average 20 points per game. And he
doesn't get to shoot 10+ FTs a game like Notwitski. Who
is OVER 7 ft tall and plays very small

 

[Makkonnen]

Re: a consequence of good teamwork

ONeal is one of the few big men who will not just let
people prance down the lane. THAT'S what I mean by
"playing big".

His points are just a bonus. He doesn't need to average
20 shots a game to average 20 points per game. And he
doesn't get to shoot 10+ FTs a game like Notwitski. Who
is OVER 7 ft tall and plays very small

but nopiffski will drop 40 and shoots a high percentage- what he lacks in defense he makes up in offense- jermaine oneal isnt anyone i want shooting at the end of a game and most likely he will have twisted his adolescent female ankles sometime before his presence is really required

give his ass some bionic ankles and im with you - get tinsley healthy all year too and without artest they could do some things including beating the heat but detroit would still murder them